Monthly Archives: January 2015

Hierodule

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Last weekend I place a Forge World order for my first Lord of War for the Tyranids. The Hierodule I ordered is currently on its way, and I thought now would be a decent time to do a quick unit review, and then I will explain why I chose the one I did. I may do a second review after a few games with it in order to give a more experienced review.

The Hierodule comes in two options, Scythed and Barbed. The difference, besides their names, is how they are armed and their points cost. Both have the stat line of WS4, BS3, S10, T8, W6, I3, Ld10, and Sv 3+. The Scythed Hierodule has 7 attacks while the barbed has 5. Both are Gargantuan Creatures (and have all of special rules that go with that unit type) and both have the Agile special rule. Agile allows the unit to Run twice, shoot one weapon and run once, or shoot two weapons.

The difference between the two units is what they are armed with and their point’s value. The Scythed Hierodule comes with two sets of talons and a Bio-acid spray and comes in at a points cost of 535. The Bio-acid spray is a hellstorm template weapon that is S6 AP3, meaning a unit of tactical marines may just disappear. The Barbed Hierodule is armed with two bio-cannons and one set of talons. Each bio-cannon has a range of 48 inches, Strength 10, Ap 3, and is a assault 6 weapon. This means that the Barbed unit brings 12 shots to the table at a cost of 565 points. Ok, it may only hit with 6 of them on average, but that is still a lot of S10 hits.

Looking at their abilities and costs, I have to believe that the Barbed Hierodule is the better choice of the two. Yes, they are both T8 creatures, meaning a melta-gun will have a hard time wounding them (on 4s), and in close combat a Tac squad will not be able to do much against them. But if an Imperial Knight were to get into close combat with Hierodule, the knight would go first, and has a decent chance of killing it before it even attacks. Yes, poisoned weapons will only would it on 6’s (thank you 40K rules), but a small unit of Centurions could rip right through them as well. So, using the Barbed Hierodule and keeping it at a distance would be the way to go in my opinion.

So, having realized that of the two, the Barbed Hierodule is the better option, I ordered the Scythed Hierodule. I feel that while it is the worse of the two, it fits into my army slightly better. I realize that it will not be played all that often, and I wanted a unit that I liked. I think it looks better, is still killable, and it is still something that would not be able to be ignored on the board.

I cannot wait for this model to come in, I really want to build it, paint it, and field it. And while rules say I can just add it to the Army, I will not be doing so. I will ask my opponent if he minds facing it, and if they accept, then I will put it on the table. And maybe one day I will buy the Barbed Hierodule. I am, after all, a Tyranid player, and I have to have all of the units possible, even if they almost never see the battlefield (I am looking at you Maleceptor).

A Warhammer New Years Resolution List: Severus Edition

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2015 New Year celebrationHappy 2015 everyone! It is I, Severus, and today I wanted to lay down a list of resolutions for myself for the new year. I know, it’s kind of cliche to do, but if it keeps me focused for the year then I am all for it. So, with that in mind, lets dive in!

1. Be more consistent with the blog. We started this blog last year and had a good time with it. I burned out around August and have had real trouble getting motivated to write again. I have plenty of crap to talk about now, just no motivation. This year I am making a serious effort to stay on top of this blog.

2. Complete a 2000 point force of Tau. This one is a bit odd. I have 2000 points of painted Tau, just not in a cohesive force that I want to play on the table. I want to iron out a list that I like and paint that list to completion. I managed to turn out 2000 points of Iron Hands last year without much trouble, so I think this is a do-able goal.

3. No new armies. I have plenty to work on. I have more orks than I can shake a stick at. I have the Iron Hands force that I can expand on. I have plenty of tau to work on. I have an ever growing legion of undead for fantasy. My hobby plate is full, so no adding new armies. 2015 is going to be about making the armies I have better on the table top (through some new additions) and painting models I already have.

4. Find a way to run orks that I enjoy. I mean this in a competitive sense. There are plenty of opportunities for me to bring out the boys when my opponent wants to run softer/fluffier lists. When my opponents want to run harder lists, I really can’t get a good game in with the orks. I have seen lists out there centered around a green tide. Honestly, that doesn’t seem like that much fun to me. I have played green tides before and it can be a tedious affair. So I want to find that list that is fun for me to play and can hang in there with some tougher lists.

5. Go to a large tournament/convention. I want to get out there and meet a large section of the community. Shorereaper and I looked into going to Adepticon, but it was not feasible this year. We are in the Baltimore area, so we may try to get to the NOVA open. I don’t think I will actually play in any large competitive tournament. I just want to go and meet guys, maybe get some casual gaming in, maybe a hobby class.

6. Continue to improve my painting skills. Last year I started working on better line-highlighting with the Iron Hands. I am not quite sure what area of my painting I will focus on. There are lots of things thrown around like blending which I have no idea how to do. Maybe something like that.

I think that is a decent set of goals to stick to. I could list a few more,but I want to keep the list attainable. What are you guys working on for the new year? The Hobby Progress Challenge put on by the Independent Characters is an always popular goal. I have thought about entering, but my hobby mojo tends to come and go.

Up next, I am thinking of doing a unit review on the two experimental riptides from forgeworld. I already have the R’Varna (it is up next for the painting block) and the Y’Varha is on its way now. Until next time, this is Severus saying have a good one and take it easy.

Severus’ is back…again.

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lazy-gamerHowdy everyone. Guess the ork broke the news to you all that I was on my way back. Well, here I am. There is no fancy excuse. I was being super lazy (see above related picture). Good news is that I have been active hobby wise and have plenty to talk about.

Kaptain Klaw already brought you guys up to speed on what has been happening in the GW world. I can fill you in on what is happening in our little local group. I finished up my original 2000 point Iron Hands lists. Completely painted to a standard I am happy with. I will try to setup the army for some photos one of these days. They have been my primary army over the last few months in terms of gaming. I am hoping to transition to Tau soon.

I briefly considered re-basing my Iron Hands when the 32mm bases came out. I got to say, I really like the way marines look on 32mm bases. I was a little concerned about having to pop all my marines of there 25mm (some have finecast legs, the other I used plastic glue which can be a bear to break neatly). Then the words of wisdom prevailed. I would need new foam for 32mm based miniatures. My current kr foam fits my 25mm bases very snug. Since I hate buying foam and cases (even if they are a good product), I decided to hold off on re-basing the Iron Hands.

Our gaming group has been really into fantasy. Mainly due to all the new end times content. Guys have been dusting off old armies, adding new units, and expanding armies with the new end times army units. I learned a lot. Mainly that I love Manfred’s new rules. He was a blast to play with, I may have to pick up that model eventually (I borrowed him the first time). I was also gifted a box of Morghast Harbingers, which I have assembled and painted. Going to test them out this weekend, so expect a little report.

We have even held a few small tournaments (put on by Critical Hit Games). They are trying a new format that has been working well. It is sort of a league. Participants sign up and pairings are announced. The games can be played anytime (as in through out the week or weekend) but must be played in the store. It is a single elimination style. Once the first round is complete, pairings for the next round are announced and it repeats. A 10 person tournament took about 3 weeks. A long time, but we ended up with a much higher turn out than when we hosted a single day 3 round tournament.

Personally, I would like to see the tournament format changed to a double elimination bracket. It is possible to do, just takes a little bit more work to come up with the pairings. That way you are less likely to get booted out of the tournament from some really bad luck or a poor match up. Regardless though, they have been fun matches to watch and play in. We even started a 40k one this last week.

We have had a few new faces in the 40k crowd. Unfortunately, none of them have become regular players thus far. There are about 6 of us there making up the core group. Don’t get this wrong, I love my core gaming group. I just really want to see more guys around playing. The more variety, the better. We are happy to play with new players or veterans. If you are reading this and are in the Baltimore area, check us out some saturday.

That about wraps up what has been going on with me. I have a few ideas for articles in the works (new year’s hobby resolutions, army on display for the iron hands, maybe a forgeworld unit review). Until then gentleman, this is Severus saying have a good one and take it easy.

 

Shorereaper’s Weekend in Review

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I actually had a fairly productive gaming weekend. I got some work done on some models and I got two very fun games in at Critical Hit games. And to top it all off, I am happy to report that one of the games was a win.

The first game was against the Adepta Sororitas in a scenario from the “Shield of Baal” campaign. The scenario we played was “The Great Corral” and for those of you who don’t know, it is a very hard scenario on the sisters. The scenario special rules are that the sisters have limited ammunition, the Tyranid player has second and third waves, and the Sisters get “crawler-hulk weapon batteries.” The weapon batteries gives the sisters player S7 AP4 “snap shot” to any Tyranid units arriving via deep strike. Sadly, this rule did not come into play as nothing I had arrived via deep strike. As the Tyranid player, I had to divide my forced up into three waves, one which deploys normally, one which arrives in turn 1, and one which is placed in normal reserves.

The key rule to this game is the limited ammunition. The Sisters of Battle player rolls a D6 at the start of his or her turn (in this case his) and adds the result to the sum of the previous results. Once he reaches a sum of 12 or more, the Sisters player can only take Snap Shots for the rest of the game (meaning no template weapons so their flame throwers become useless).

In the game we played, my opponent asked me to not take any flyers, and I agreed knowing the Sisters’ struggles with them. Thanks to some lucky rolling, my opponent didn’t run out of ammunition until turn 5, which still was not enough to help him win. In this kill point game, my Tyranids tore through those squishy women. And the Swarmlord told me that they were very tasty.

The second game I played this weekend was an “Emperor’s Will” game with my Carcharodons against Severus’s dirty rotten Orks. And I wish I could say it went well. Heck, I wish I could say I even put up a fight. I made many tactical errors and went down with a whimper (kind of like the Bengals and the Steelers this weekend). I don’t want to get into the details of the game, but anyone who says that Flash Gits are a bad unit need to look at the remains of Tyberos’s unit. When they happen to roll a 1 for AP, a terminator squad is in a lot of trouble.

So, the week went average with one win and one loss. On top of that, I did manage to complete another Broodlord from the Baal box set, actually get some work done on the Alpha Legion (I based one bike), and I did build a Ravager for my new Dark Eldar army. I would say that it was a good way to start the New Year…

Well, except for those damn Bengals.

Zog it! Where did dat hummie runz off to now?

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orkcampaignheroes02

 

Listen up ya gitz. It’z Kaptain Klaw here. Seemz dat da little hummie, Severus, has wondered off again. Don’t fret, me boyz say he will be back shortly. Some fing to do wit him being a lazy git, I can never read ‘iz notes.

Well, I guess da Kaptain iz gonna have to fill in for now. Let’s see, when waz da last time we heard from dat git? Hmm, looks like back in Orktober? Ya meanz to tell me dat idiot didn’t do a big Orktoberfest thing? I iz gonna krump him when I seez him next.

Well dere waz a ton of dem bug thingz. Like some big brain bug and some strangle tentacle bugz. Da had big onez and small onez for each. Then dey had diz big egg sac lookin thingy. Da bug boyz tell me dey really like diz unit and dat us orks should be afraid of it. But orks iz da best, so I don’t listen to dem gitz.

Dere waz a bunch of stuff for dem square based gamez. Some fing to do wit da end timez. Dat don’t make no sense to me. It’s ain’t da end until da Kaptain makez it da end. Whatever it iz, da fantasy ladz have been having a blast wit it. Good on dem!

Den came da vampire space marinez. I always love krumpin dem gitz. Dey always know how to have a good fight. Not like dem other sissy marinez dat try to dakka ya to deff. Deez lads always like to get in close to do da krumpin. Da new book dey got really turned it up a notch. Dem boyz is right tough now. Now I just need to get some boyz together to have another good scrap wit dem.

Dat about covered da last two months. Da lazy git will be back shortly to give ya gitz some more on what he has been upto. Diz iz da Kaptain sayin WAAAAAAGH!

Shorereaper’s First Tournament of the Year

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Yesterday, my Tyranids took on some Iron Hands in my first tournament and my first game of the year. The tournament is a “one and done” style tournament, and I am sad to report that I am done. It was a close game, and I cannot say how friendly the game was. For example, my opponent reminded me that I was skipping my psychic phase in one turn, and I pointed out to him that he should run some Terminators into cover so that my Flying Hive Tyrant would attack at the same initiative rather than going first when I charged him. I know that the psychic phase did help me, and I would like to believe that moving his terminators helped him (since they were armed with hammers and would go at initiative 1).

My list consisted of two flying hive tyrants, five Zoanthrops and one Neurothrope in a Tyrannocyte, 30 guants and a Tervigon as my troop choices, a Dimachaeron, a Carnifex, and an Exocrine. The Iron hands brought a Chapter Master, two Stormtalons, Centurions, Terminators, a Land Raider, Scouts, and Tactical Squads to the fight. I mat be forgetting some of the Iron Hands, being unable to remember exactly what I fought. And the game was fun and close. And I mean really close. We had three objectives and deployed on the short table edges. He won the roll off and let me deploy first.

Without going into too much detail, there were some interesting and entertaining points during the game. The Dimachaeron didn’t do much except die; he is so slow for being a fast attack choice. The Carnifex killed the Land Raider and then died to a scout in close combat. The Neurothrope and Zoanthrope brood was my all-star unit, and his one remaining terminator was his (in my opinion since it won him the game). My warlord failed his crash test after being wounded three times, causing him to lose his last wound, giving my opponent slay the warlord.

At the end of the game, I had one objective, my opponent had one objective, and the third was contested with his terminator facing off with a hive tyrant (and not dying). I had first blood and slay the warlord and he had line breaker and slay the warlord.

So we tied. In order to break the tie, we counted up kill points, which he had three more kill points than I did.

So, I am one and done.

My opponent advances to the next round.

Shorereaper’s New Year Resolutions

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1. I will put more time an effort into my 30K Alpha legion army, getting more models finished. Actually, getting some models finished.

2. I will not start another new army, but I will get my 2000-point Dark Eldar army ready to play and mostly painted.

3. I will get back to work on my Carcharodons, playing more games with them in 2015 than I did in 2014.

4. I will play fewer games with my Tyranids, but I will finish painting even more of them, especially my gaunts.

5. I will play more Fantasy. In 2014, I played about 2 games with my Dark Elves, I hope to get more time in with them. I should also get games in with my Tau and my Necrons, but I may keep them shelved.

6. I will be more positive going into my games. I will not expect to lose before I even set up my army, unless I am facing the Lord Primarch or Mawloc is on the table. (I hate Mawloc).

7. When I play my Tyranids, I will use models that have been collecting dust. They have been built; they should be played… except for the Maleceptor.

8. I will get rid of my Orks. I never played them; I don’t even know why I bought them.

9. I will blog more often, at least once a week.

10. I will expect less from GW. 2014 was a great year for my Tyranid Army. I got a supplement that I wanted (basically the “Shield of Baal”), two runs of models, tons of formations, a few dataslates, and so much more. Actually, I don’t expect less from GW, I want less.